Many systems of fundamental or technological importance exist as polydisperse mixtures of heterogeneous components. The elucidation of the characteristic properties of the individual components in such mixtures is a crucial problem in fields ranging from analytical chemistry to biophysics.
Identifying constituents of complex mixtures is becoming increasingly important in modern biophysics since most processes in living organisms depend on the interplay of a variety of different constituents. In particular, early detection of many diseases may well be facilitated by monitoring the protein levels in the human body.
In spite of this pressing need for methods to analyse complex solutions of biomolecules, few technologies provide the necessary accuracy and resolution. And those that do 2D gel electrophoresis or mass spectrometry, for instance are either time-consuming, expensive, or both. Furthermore, techniques such as gel electrophoresis does not provide quantitative information on the properties of the analytes.
The separation and detection of components within fluid flows, such as microfluidic flows, presents a number of challenges. Given the recent increased interest in fluidic techniques for the reaction, separation and detection of components, there is interest in developing methods and devices that allow components to be separated and analysed in a continuous flow system.
The present inventors have established a fluidic method for analysing a component, including a component in a multicomponent mixture.